More on 2.0 and the US Government

Another article in Federal Computer Week highlights the march of the U.S. government into the 21st century.
GSA signs agreements with Web 2.0 providers
“The General Services Administration has negotiated terms of service agreements with Web 2.0 providers MySpace, Blist, Slideshare and AddThis allowing federal agencies to use the services, GSA officials have said. Agencies that want the services can sign onto the agreement, which is effective now.
MySpace is a social portal for connecting people and content. Blist provides a service for publishing data on the Internet. Slideshare is a site for sharing PowerPoint, Word and PDF documents. AddThis is a bookmarking and sharing platform.
During last 10 months, a coalition of agencies led by GSA has been negotiating agreements with new media providers, and other federal agencies can choose to sign the same agreements, GSA officials said April 28. The agreements resolve legal concerns and conditions that pose problems for federal agencies, such as liability, endorsements, advertising, freedom of information and governing law, they said.”
The GSA has also signed agreements with:
Facebook
Flickr
YouTube
Vimeo
blip.tv
I am sure more will follow since the basic agreements are now templated.
I am sure that these don’t really apply to some government bodies (CIA, top secret military, etc.) but this will go a long way to opening up some parts of government to the public in ways that match tools they are already using.
Stephen